Life preserver



Nov. 28,- 1944. 3 L BROWN 2,363,639

' LIFE PRESERVER Filed Jan. 1, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l yr INVENTOR. fi 329 5 fldQ/MLQQ Brow/L BY M #627 Nov. 28, 1944.

' F. L. BROWN LIFE PRESERVER Fil ed Jan. 1, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2llllllllll|llllllll|lililllll/ l l l l l l l l t il llllllllllllllA nvuINVENTOR. jflaaemalee Emu/z BY M4;

Patented Nov. 28, 1944 a UNITED; PATENT "OFFICE r r assure 1 1 i v nririrrmsmtvnrt Frederick Lee Brown, Greenfield, Ohio, assignor to TheAmerican Pady& Textile Company, Greenfiel d Qhio a. corporation of OhioY; 5. A plication January 1, 1942, Serial iv 425,280

' 8Claims. (ore-:20) a My invention relates 'to lifepreservers andmoreparticularly to life preservers of the vest or jacket type. Severaldevicesof this general nature are known and areusually intended forcontinuous Wear by persons exposed to the hazard ofdrown ing, but thesedevicesin general proved rather unsatisfactory, particularly in that theconstruc- 1- -1 or Fig. 3; and

tion and dispositionof the buoyant material has made these devicesuncomiortable to such a deree that the temptation of the wearer toremove the device is great. Furthermore, these devices havealsointerfered with freedom of action by the wearer, either in or outoffthe water.

i It is an object of ins/"invention to overcome these objectionableieatures andto provide a life preserver of the vest type constructed andarranged for comfortable wear, which permits access to pockets and otherarticles of clothing as well as freedom of moVementQeither in orout of.the water.

Another object oflthe invention is toiprovide an improved life savingvest which embodies the features just mentioned and is reversible sothat the features and operation of the vest is in no: 25

vest is donned. A i

.A further object of theinventionisto provide a vest, incorporating theabove ieafturesj which is of universal size,fitting substantially anyperway changed or impaired regardless of how the son regardless ofheight orrweight so that the vest can be used as a standard item wherelife.

preservers may or may not be required.

Further'objects of my invention are to provide allife preserving vesthaving the buoyant material arranged therein in such amanner as tounconscious and will cushion impact of the :wearer with the water, butwillalso permit theweare'r to swim orotherwise moveqwith relative ease.

Fig.5 is a seci'iional view taken along the line 6+6 ofFigr3: a r 1 Fig.71s a :sectionalview taken along the line Fig. 8 is a] perspectiveillustration showing the action of my vest in water. a

Referring to thefldrawingsFigs. 1, 2 3 and8 disclose various aspects ofmy life preserver which is constructed in the former a vest and ishereinafter referred to as such. The vest is formed v of twolayerstzlandI22 of suitable flexible covering material such as a closely Wovencotton cloth stitched together or otherwise joined around form anenvelope and dethe rnarginal edges to fining armholeszi;

For convenience of description, the vest may be considered as includingtwo front sections 24 having meeting {edges 25, two shouldersections a26,,two 'frcntskirts 21, a back section 28, and a. 20

backskirt 29, mm is understood that these sections' are definedonly asareas for descriptive purposes and arelnot necessaril separate units thedrawings relatingthereto, and the claims. v

Referring tothe drawingsr Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating apre when n Fi 3 is a front viewof the vest with the front 01710115Opened; i i i i V Fig. 4 is a sectional viewvtalren along the line 4- 4of Fig. 3 v t Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken 5 5 OfFig.3;

along the line adapted forassembly.

, Each oftheabove mentioned sections and skirts contain a quantity orkapok 3i distributed accordingto predetermined thicknesses and confinedtothe desiredposition in the upper portions between the inner and outerfabric layers, preferablyby quilting, to avoid shifting and bunchihg.Buoyant material in the skirts 21 and 29 is'held in place by transverserows of stitching 32 forming a pluralityof elongated pockets. Theuppergline of the stitching 32 defining the upper extremities of theskirts, isdispose d atsubstantially waist level or slightly'above andcooperating therewith, and parallel theretmis provided a spaced line ofStitching 33 to define a shirr tube,

the walls otwhich are formed of the inner and outer layers of fabric 2]and 22 receiving the 40* These and otherobiects oi the invention willbecome apparent from the following description,

draw string 34. The draw string 34 is anchored at theback to preventremoval by stitching or othersuitable means, as indicatedat36substantially in the center of theback section 28. It isimportantjtothe proper operation of my vest thatthis' drawstring-or tape34 be secured at this point only, iorthemnction of this string is togather the vest around the torso of the wearer, thereby I insuring asnug fit regardless of the waistline'of the user.

In confining the buoyant material 3i in the upper front sections 24,vertica11y extending lines of stitchingfii arejemployedpreferablyafteriasubstantial vthici zness of kapok is in p1ace,and

L these quilt lines of stitching'extend from the line i of stitching 33upwardly to the top or the vest,

preferably past the chest level, which is to be understood as a levelapproximately midway between the top and bottom of the armholes 23. Atransverse row of stitching 38 extends across the vest at the chestlevel from the armholes to the edge of the vest to form a quilt linepermitting a bending of the vest at this point to accommodate the armsizes of various wearers and permitting the top of the vest tobendfreely into place over the shoulder for comfort. The lines ofstitching in the shoulder portions are tailored to curve around thearmholes in such manner as to predispose the section to conform to thecurvature of the body regardless of which side of the vest is out whenitis put on. The line of stitching 38 assists in this regard so that ifthe'vest is worn with one side out for any length of time" of thewearer. As thus constructed, the skirt portions 21 and 29 flexindependently of each other, and, therefore, the size of the hips of theperson wearing the vest is immaterial. Furthermore, these notches asdisposed directly beneath the armholes and over the trouser pocketspermit the wearer to have access to the pockets while wearing the vestout of the water.

, As a further feature of my invention, it will be noted that the skirts21 and 29 act, upon immersion, to move the center of buoyancy upwardly ias shown in Fig. 8, and as more particularly described in my Patent No.2,331,301, reference to which is hereby made. The buoyancy of thematerial within these skirts causes them to flex "upwardly around thewearers body. This contributes materially to stabilizing the wearer inthe tendency to shape that way is lessened and the .vest is readilycapable of use with the other side out.

Tapes 42 are secured to both edges adjacent the transverse line ofstitching 38 between. the two layers of fabric 21 and 22 of the vest asby means of the line of stitching that joins the marginal edges of thefabric layers. Thereby, the tape will always be in the same positionrelative to the body of the wearer regardless of which surface of thevest is outward.

The back section 28 is stuffed with buoyant material 3| which isconfined tolongitudinally disposed pockets 43 by substantiallylongitudinal rows of stitching 44. In this section, the buoyant materialextends laterally to the armholes 23 and I the marginal rows ofstitching 46 are curved'to conform to the curvature of the armhole. Thepockets 43 extend upwardly substantially to the neck of the vest and areclosed by a transverse line of stitchin 41. The upper terminal portionsof 'the side pockets 43, may, if desired, be closed by the lineofstitching M which also closes the upper end of the pockets in theshoulder section 26. ,It is to be noted that the buoyant material in theback is carried upwardly well towards the neck portion of the vesttofurnish as much protection for the back of the neck. as is comfortablypossible and to provide support for the wearers head when the vestshifts slightly upward under buoyancy as it is bound to do in water.tofa controlled limited extent. pockets 43 are defined by atransver'seline of stitching '38 disposed a substantial distance above the line ofstitching 33' and somewhat below the by lines of stitching 5| extendingdownwardly beneath the armholes 23 well towardsthe front of the vest.Thus, the area' 49 containing no buoyant material, for one of manyreasons to be mentioned, is such that substantially no buoyant materialis interposed between the wearers body.

and his arm when the arm is hanging naturally at his side. This not onlygreatly increases the comfort, but also permits free use of the arms andeliminates the possibility of chafing. I

The skirt portions 29 and 2'! do not abut each other but are severedfrom each other by notches indicated at 52. These notches are disposedto come directly over the hips and trouser pockets The lower limits ofthe .have within the jacket sufficient buoyant material to support a 16%pound dead weight after forty-eight hours of immersion. The amount ofmaterial required, therefore, will depend, on the specific gravity,water absorption and'other characteristics of the buoyant materialemployed.

I prefer to employ kapok, as I have found it to bethe most suitablematerial for this purpose.

and a total of 20 ounces of kapok disposed in the manner described isample to support the desired dead weight. It is essential to thepurposes of my invention, however, that th e'quantity of kapok disposedin the front and shoulder sections of my vest aggregate atleast twicethe amount disposed in the back section in order that the center ofbuoyancy will not only be relatively close to the wearers shouldersbutalso nearer the chest side of the wearer, so that as the wearer is.floating with the body relaxed in the water, the vest will at all timestend to keep the chest up and to elevate the chest a distance sufiicientto insure that the wearers face, even if he should be uncone scio'us,will not be immersed. Normally the upper portion of the shouldersections will not be immersed and thereby provides a reserve of buoyancysufficient to carry the wearer over a wave, rather than partiallythrough it, without the necessity of disposing the center of buoyancy ata dangerously low level.

In this connection it is well to note that the back portions are soconstructed and arranged as to cooperate with the front part in keepingthe face up. The back portion 29 under buoyancy fits in the area 49' todispose its buoyancy directlyagainst and in the small of the back of thewearer so as not tocounteract theeffect .of the overlapping frontportions in tipping the wearer slightly backward in the water, buteffectively adds itsbuoyancy for support once the wearer is so tipped. vI

As previously mentioned, other vests of this nature have not beenentirely satisfactory in -that they arefso uncomfortable that the wearerwill often yield to the temptation of removal. .One of the principalsources of discomfort hasbeen the tendency of the vest to force itselfupwardly around the wearer when in a sitting position, due

to the rigidity imparted to the vest by virtue of drlidculty "byproviding a line offlexure between the front' sections and shouldersections {by the line 0f stitching38, as wellas by thecorrespond ,ingline' of flexure formed byuthe line of stitching {H.j Thisconstruction,coupled with the absence (if-buoyant material from the lower portion -ofthe back section imparts to the wearer a sufficient I assesses thequilted construction. a I? have overcome this degree of comfort toovercomethe temptation to remove the vestl For example, when the weareris sitting, the skirts 2l and29 may; under strain,

flex upwardly by virtue of the fiexibleweb connectionbe'tween the skirtsand the corresponding front or -back section. If thi flexure is not suf.ficient and the legs or other portions 0f the body tendto force thevestupwardly, the line of stitch-.

ing 38 permits my vest to bulge forwardly and putw'ardly rather thanplace a direct strainon, any'portion of the wearersbody, therebycon-ftributing greatly to his comfort. l H To form a vest whichcanbe trulysaid to be of universal size; it isfnecessary to consider that,

certain people are shorterthanothers and, thereforethe distance from theshoulder to the waistline will 1 vary. Other vests of the general typedescribed cannot, therefore, be said to fulfill the requirements of auniversal size inasmuch as a vest large enough to accommodate a largeperson would extend upwardly around a smallpersons neck when the waistsecuring means is tightened In my construction, however, the line offlexure- 38 permits the vest to bulge forwardly slightly under extremeconditions, shortening thedistance between theshoulder and the waistlinethereby making the position of the waistline relative to the shouldersubstantially immaterial. r

a holes by a flexible web, said web extending down-'- wardlyto waistlevel, and means forsecuring the It should also be noted that my vest istruly,

reversible inasmuch as the position of the draw I string 34 andthe tape42 are always the same relative to the wearers body and exert theirbinding actionin substantially the same way and in the same directionregardless of which side or the vest is innermost.

It is recognized, of course, that various minor modifications may bemade in the structure with- I out departing from the scope and I do not,therefore, wish to be limited to the precise form herein described,butonly by the scopeof the appended claims. I

What is claimed is:

1. In a life preserving vest, inner and outer flexible coverings formingaback sectionand two front sections joined together at, the shouldersand at the sides and provided with armhole open ings, buoyant materialconfined between the cov erings by lines of stitching, a stitchingbetween the front and shoulder-sections, and means between the front andshoulder sections for securing the vest to the body... the aggregatedisplacement of the buoyant material in the front sections and shouldersections being, more than twice the displacement-of the buoyant materialin the,

back section. 2. In a reversible life preserving vest, inner outercoverings forming a back section and two the lower. edge of said lifepreserving member, the portion's of lsaidlife preserving member ex--tending overthe hips being in segments whereby in deep water saidsegmentswillb reversed for insuring the upright position of the wearer.

4. Areversible life preserving vest comprising inner, and outercoverings forming ,a back section and two front sections, said sectionsbeingjoined i together and provided with armholes, buoyant material. inthe sections confined by lines of stitchinginto elongated pockets, thefrontand back'lsections being connected below, the armvestto a wearerfsbody, the vest being characterized by having the pock'etssymmetrically.ar- I ranged on opposite sides i of the central plane of thecorresponding sections, whereby said vest is reversible without alteringits function. or affecting its application to the body of the wearer.

5. A life preserver for an adult of average size, comprising two layersoffabric tailored to be worn as a vest, having a back portion and twofront portions extending to a level below the waistline, said frontportions being joined to the back portion by loose fabric below and, tothe rear of the armholes in the upper part of the vest and between thearmholes and notches over the side pants pockets of the wearer in thelower edge of the vest, kapokl disposed between layers of the upper partof the front portions extending from slightly above the waist to theshoulders, means for securing the kapok in placeincluding stitchespredisposing the upper part to flex readily to follow the contour of thetorso and the shoulders, kapok disposed between the layers in the lowerparts, means for securing the kapok in place in the lower partsincluding horizontal stitching arranged to allow the lower parts to flexupwardly without crushing the kapok when the front sections, saidsections being joined to define tween the coverings, a draw stringbetween the coverings at waist height and secured only at one point tothe back section, and tape means secured to the meeting edges of thefront section at substantially chest level midway between the inner andouter coverings of said front sections wheremeeting edges attheshoulders and sides of said vest and forming armholes, buoyantmaterial berear portion having its lower edge disposed above the levelof the lower edge of the upper front intermediate its ends. r

6. A life preserver comprising upper and lower wearer is sitting, thestitching along the lower,

end of the kapok in the upper part of the front portions and thestitching along the top of the kapok in the lower front portionsproviding a shirr tube between the fabric, said fabric at said shirrtubepermitting the lower parts to flex away from the body and up whenthe wearer is in the water, kapok disposed inthe top half of the backportion, means for securing the kapok in place, .kapok disposed in thebottom portion below the levelof said shirr tube, and means for securingth free edges onthe front portions together identically with either sideof the vest out including a draw string anchored in said shirr tubeportions at the front and back connected to:

gethensaidupper portion forming a body fitting garment, buoyant materialcarried, by each of said portions, the buoyant material of the upperportion, means between said upper and lower portions for securing thelower part of said upper portion snugly around the trunk of the wearer,said lower portion being in depending segments, whereby said segmentswill reverse and extend upwardly for buoying the upper portion of thebody of the wearer with the front portions super posed on each other andthe lowerrear portion disposed belowthe upper rear portion, so that hisnose and mouth will be supported above the water level in deep water.

7. A' life preserving vest including inner and outer flexible coveringstailored to provide aback section and two front sections joined totheback section at the shoulders and at the sides to provide armholeopenings, buoyant material: disposed between the coverings and confinedby lines of stitching intotelongated pockets arranged in verticallyspaced buoyant portions in each section, horizontalxstitching atapproximately the waist line forming a flexure line I between thebuoyant portions in each section, the lower portionsin the frontsections/being movable independently of the lower portion in the backsection, said back section comprising an upper buoyant portion disposedacross the shoulders of the wearer a substantial distance above thehorizontal stitching and a lower portion which flexes about said lineofsstitching to move upwardly intocontact with the body of the wearerbelow the upper buoyant portion when immersed, the buoyant portions inthe front sections being movable intos uperposed positions under theinfluence of; water to shift the effective center of buoyancy of thevest upwardly and frontwardly when immersed.

8. In a reversible life preserving vest, inner and outer flexiblecoverings forming a back section and two front sections joined togetherat the shoulders and at the sides and provided with armhole openings,buoyant material between said coverings confined by vertical lines ofstitching to vertically elongated pockets extending from the shouldersdownwardly to the waist line at the front, means at the lower edge ofsaid pockets for securing the vest to the wearer, a normally dependentbuoyant portion attached to certain ofsaid sections at points spacedfrom the armhole openings and movable to a position to overlap the upperportion of the vest when immersed in water so as to shift the center ofbuoyancy upwardly, and a horizontal line of stitching at approximatelychest level between the front and shoulder sections providing a line offlexure between the front sections and the shoulder sections.

FREDERICK, LEE BROWN.

